Country Feedback

Hello, I’m back! After a busy couple of weeks I’ve finally got around to finding some images to post. I was wishing I could show you the things I did at Tigerprint but that is strictly against the rules. Security is taken very,very seriously; you needed a special pass to get from the main Hallmark area into Tigerprint because M&S guard their exclusivity jealously.” This is not just a card factory…etc,etc!” Anyway, despite the huge corporate feel of the place it was a really nice atmosphere to work in, with everyone covered in “flitter” (tiny glitter) and having serious sales/design meetings with armfuls of teddies as well as clipboards!

I was working on a Christmas trend for 2009 and combining some CAD work with a lot of hand embroidery and beading.The other placement people included Anri Moolman who won the New Designers prize and Emma Daniel from Manchester whose hand embroidery was beautiful and delicate.We stayed in a cottage in Cottingley and I became a little obsessed with looking for fairies… unfortunately I forgot to take my wellies.

Meanwhile, away from the drawing board… Sunday the 24th was REM day which I’d been looking forward to for ages.The stage light show was fantastic, I’m not sure who it was doing the graphics and animations but The Heads of State have been involved in doing some of the limited edition posters for sale on the website and I love the simplicity of their designs which I first came across at college.

I don’t care what anyone says,REM are one of the best live bands you could see, and Micheal Stipe singing into his megaphone on Orange Crush gave me a flashback to another night in 1989 at Newcastle City Hall…. hell,was it really so long ago!? We also got a “special set” in celebration of Manchester Gay Pride Week and highlights included an acoustic version of Let Me In, audience participation with”portable phones” on Electrolite and a rage against US governments past and present with Ignoreland.

Now its time to return to the matter of designing and finding a way to make a living, so farwell until next time.x

Perfect Circle

Lovely English August; I’m huddled under a blanket in the kitchen with toothache and a bad case of gloom! It just hasn’t felt like summer all summer, and now I’m thinking about where I should order some firewood from.

Well,as you can see I’ve been making circular motifs using elements from a drawing of cow parsley.Its fun building these shapes but I got carried away and forgot that they should actually be in a formal repeat.Repeats have never been my strong point due to the basic maths involved and the need for careful measuring! What I’d love would be to print out patterns like this and then stitch into them but this doesn’t seem to be what’s wanted by The Industry…

Its Tigerprint day tomorrow so I should be packing whatever I’ll need for a week in Bradford. The information pack said “bring your own scalpel and anything else you might need..” but what? It sounds like Lyndsey McBean had a great time but I have to admit to being a bit worried since gift design wasn’t something I did much of at college.

Well, its just a short one today, hopefully I’ll have lots to tell you when I get back; although apparently no pictures as whatever you do there remains the property of Tigerprint, hmmm.

August and Everything

Just a quick one today, as the inevitable rain batters the windows and the thought of taking a trip to the Northern Green Gathering seems less and less appealing!

I found out last night that Claire Salway from CCAD was a runner-up in the Como-Texprint competition which was won by Helen Greensmith. I couldn’t find any images of Claire’s work but I’m sure they’ll be updating the website soon; so WELL DONE Claire!

Also, browsing about last night I saw that Rob Ryan has opened a shop on Columbia Road ( near Brick Lane in London). It looks great and I can’t wait to take a look next time I’m in the big city.I loved his stuff,after seeing a piece in Vogue a bit ago where he’d made a dress out of cut paper. The skirt below is a bit like a fabric version, and I’m really regretting not buying a signed copy of his book ” This Is For You” when I saw it in Shelf ( on Cheshire Street, also near Brick Lane).

As usual I’m off for a coffee fix…I’ll need plenty this week as I’ve just found out I’m farm-sitting all week.Oh and this week marks the 2000 hits milestone on this blog so THANKS to whoever is still reading… any ideas how to celebrate? I thought I should give a prize to the 2000th visitor but since I don’t know who that was …

x

808 State

I’ve been trying to get enthusiastic about Illustrator by printing out my feeble early attempts on to silk and then stitching into them. I’ve also bought a book and had a little lesson from my brother who directed me to Veerle’s blog which has some tutorials by an artist/graphic designer specializing in Illustrator.I’m looking forward to seeing what Lyndsay McBean has been up to at Hallmark, she sounds like she’s been having a good time and learning some new stuff so I’m starting to be quite excited about my week there from the 18th of this month.

Digging out some images to post I can’t help thinking “handmade” is a much more satisfying way to work…if only there were money in it. I think I need to find a way of expressing the subtle qualities from my hand-done pieces in CAD work, this probably involves YEARS of practice and makes me even more amazed that we were never shown Illustrator at college.

Here’s my chair in the garden, just waiting for a sunny day and a big pot of coffee.

Inspiration

Here are some lovely things I’ve been looking at, and getting inspired by… I’ve been painting my room and while shifting stuff around I came across this gorgeous green silk shawl that my dad gave me for my birthday years ago. It has three embroidered butterflies on it and very long tassels that get in a big knot, but it looks great hiding a pile of boxes; rich green against the “Mulberry” walls.Maybe I need to buy an iron though…!

Louise Broomhead, a freelance textile designer working for Gilbey & Cheyne,  kindly admired my degree show on her blog this week.I had a look at the slide show of her work and felt even more inspired to do a bit of stitching and drawing, Thank you Louise!( For copyright reasons I’ve removed the image of her work but you must take a look at her designs and cards which you can buy via the link on her blog)

Sorry about the quality of these pictures,at least they upload fairly quickly. I thought I should put a few stitchy pieces here since its all been getting a bit too flat and computer generated lately. The bird on the right is the original fabric sample that I’ve been working on reproducing on Illustrator and Photoshop.

Must be coffee time by now? And then I shall summon the energy to go and empty the paddling pool which has turned an unhealthy shade of green- a bit like that shawl!